Arts

DPJ’s Wire series delivers news and information straight from the source without translation.

Get Your PHX and Phoenix Public Market present the 5th Annual Phoestivus Market

Two Nights of Open Air Markets and Special Events to Promote Local Holiday Shopping

Phoestivus will be returning once again for two fun Wednesday evenings of holiday cheer on December 10 and 17, 2014 from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm at 14 E. Pierce Street in Downtown Phoenix.

Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase unique gifts from 130 local vendors. The event will also feature food trucks, the World’s Largest Phoestivus Pole (“as far as we know”), Pheats of Strength, Airing of Grievances, holiday entertainment, and much more. Last year’s Phoestivus event saw over 2000 attendees on each of the two nights!

Bring your friends and family to enjoy dinner from the food trucks, as well as food and cocktails from the Phoenix Public Market Café including the always popular Phoestivus Ale from Phoenix Ale Brewery. Ruby Ride will also be available for transportation to and from the event by calling 602-615-0739.

“We put this event together every year as a way to support locally-owned businesses and to support healthy food through the Phoenix Public Market. It’s also a great way to celebrate our community and just act like Phoestivus-lovin’ goofballs for a couple nights,” said Phoestivus Bürgermeister, Ken Clark.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Phoenix Public Market, a program of Community Food Connections, a 501c3 non-profit organization.

“We are happy to host the Phoestivus Market for the fifth year in a row”, said Dan Klocke, Community Food Connections board member. “Our mission is to create a downtown community gathering place that supports local, small farmers and businesses to strengthen our community. It’s particularly important to promote the message of supporting local businesses as people shop for holiday gifts.”

There’s a common story that unfolds in cities and towns again and again. Artists looking for cheap rent and spaces to work, move into neglected, transitional areas of town. Their presence and impact begins to transform the area and everything surrounding it. Once scary parts of town become trendy and desirable, and real estate prices begin to rise. The next thing you know, the artists are forced to move elsewhere to find affordable space. And so it goes.

Wendy Holmes, Artspace

As the vitality of our urban core grows and gathers strength, the desire to live and work here is increasing. How do we nurture growth and density, yet continue to support and embrace artists? One way, is to make sure that there is affordable space for them to continue to live and create in the very neighborhoods that they helped transform.

Artspace is a uniquely successful nonprofit real estate developer whose entire mission is dedicated to creating, fostering and preserving affordable spaces for artists and arts organizations. For three decades they’ve pioneered and built affordable housing for artists. They’ve seen how these projects have advanced public agendas, from job creation, to transit-oriented development, historic preservation and community stabilization and they’ve created a successful process for working with communities that includes a preliminary feasibility visit, an arts market survey, leading to the potential of predevelopment planning or customized consulting.

Because of Artspace’s very specific development experience, the City of Phoenix Office of Arts & Culture, along with Downtown Phoenix, Inc.,JP Morgan Chase, Arizona Community Foundation and Arizona Forward invited the Artspace team to Phoenix for a preliminary feasibility visit. On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, Wendy Holmes, Sr. Vice President, Consulting & Strategic Partnerships and and Stacey L. Mickelson, Vice President of Government Relations conducted focus groups with artists, representatives from arts organizations, and the public to learn about the specifics of our community, including the success of the locally-developed Oasis on Grand project in the Grand Avenue Arts District, and begin to suss out additional opportunities for creating sustainable, affordable spaces for artists and arts organization in downtown Phoenix.

Everett, Washington

“We are pleased that so many people from our arts community turned out for the ArtSpace presentations last week,” said Gail Browne, executive director of the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. “Clearly there is a great need for affordable live/work housing for artists in Phoenix.”

To date, Artspace has completed 36 projects in over 14 states, and they are in development on several more, including one in Mesa and another in Avondale. Many of their developments have been adaptive reuse projects. Some are combinations of old and new build elements, while others are all new builds. They are scattered in small and large cities throughout the country and many were built to accommodate artists and their families and include multiple two-and three-bedroom units.

“An Artspace project in Phoenix would provide affordable housing to the creative community, which is sorely needed,” said Diane Brossart, president & ceo of Arizona Forward, a nonprofit partner in bringing Artspace to Phoenix. “Artspace has a track record of creating sustainable projects across the country that stand the test of time – they are sustainable live/work environments that support the arts community.”

Before and after, Tilsner Artist Coop, St. Paul, MN

Most of the Artspace projects combine housing and studio or rehearsal space for artists with community spaces for performances and exhibitions, spaces for arts organizations, or spaces for small commercial enterprises. Holmes points out that “these businesses can be arts-related, or they can be simply arts-compatible.” One example she noted was a project with artist housing, studio spaces, and commercial spaces, including a daycare business. Not an arts business, but definitely arts-compatible.

This notion of a business being arts-compatible is worth thinking harder about as we plan how we want our downtown to grow. What elements work together and truly support the downtown we want, and which are at cross-purposes? And where do artists fit into the mix?

As the Roosevelt Row area has witnessed in recent months, there are strong feelings about what kind of development will be compatible with the lively artistic vibe of the area. Everyone who has invested in this neighborhood is passionate about what should be built on the shoulders of the artists who’ve spent a couple of decades making it their home. Will it nurture the artists in the area, or make it impossible for them to continue to live there? Whatever comes of the debate being waged over development on 2nd Street, the tensions and the passions are part of the growing pains of a city in the process of transforming itself, and not just in the Roosevelt Row Arts Distric, but in downtown overall.

As we temporarily activate empty lots, adaptively reuse historic structures, celebrate new highrise apartment complexes, and loudly proclaim our longing for mixed-use development, the unique experience and expertise of Artspace may be able to help us effectively create and develop affordable spaces that will keep artists working their magic in the heart of our city. As the process proceeds, we’ll keep you up-to-date on the progress and opportunities.

DPJ’s Wire series delivers news and information straight from the source without translation.

Call to Artist: PSHIA Terminal 3 Modernization

The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture’s Public Art Program is requesting qualifications from artists to create signature works as part of the modernization of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Terminal 3. The modernization of Terminal 3, a 35-year-old facility, will incorporate new finishes, façades, infrastructure and specialty systems, and provide the City of Phoenix with a bold space that acts as a front door for travelers to the city and state. The project offers several opportunities to integrate major artworks into the building architecture and create stand-alone landmarks that can be experienced from multiple perspectives inside the terminal. The selected artists/artist teams will be required to work closely with the design team to incorporate the artwork into the terminal design and construction documents.

The Grand Avenue Festival and PAPA have similar missions of bringing the arts and community together. The combined events will be a celebration of the vibrant culture, art, history and adaptive re-use of the Lower Grand Avenue Arts and Small Business District, as well as an audience participatory arts and performance parade.

Free on-street parking is available on both sides of Grand Avenue from Roosevelt to Van Buren; in the lot just east of Treehouse Bakery (1348 W. Roosevelt); on the west side of the PAPA staging area; Bragg’s Pie Factory parking lot (1301 Grand – ONLY after the craft fair ends at 5:30); and various side streets and smaller parking lots. Free pedi-cabs will be available during the day; visitors are encouraged to bike and use the temporary bike racks installed by Valley Metro for the day at – Thirdspace, 1028 Grand; La Melgosa,1023 Grand; and Bragg’s Pie Factory, 1301 Grand.

The PAPA staging area is at the lot south of the Oasis on Grand (1501 Grand), and will host Otherworlds Faerie Festival, the Goblin Market, and the Moon Mermaid, as well as other eclectic and magical entertainment. Visitors can make their own masks and costumes for the PAPA parade and also participate in a variety of children’s crafts at the PAPA lot and in the courtyard of the Oasis on Grand.

The Untrashed Recycled Rubbish Fashion Show, a festival highlight each year, will take the stage at 4pm, and travel south to Mckinley to show off fashions made primarily from trash and recycled materials. Judging and prizes will take place at 4:30 at the PAPA stage.

The actual PAPA parade, complete with Taiko drummers, stilt walkers, fabulous costumes, and creative, non-motorized floats, leaves the staging area at Roosevelt and 15th Avenue at 6pm, and heads south on Grand, continuing to Van Buren, then returning to the stage for judging and prizes around 7:30pm. Parade and fashion show participants can register on-site the day of the event at the PAPA info table. The section of Grand from Roosevelt to Van Buren will be closed to through traffic from 6 – 7:30pm ONLY.

Historic building tours will take place at 11am and 2pm (meet your tour guide at the info table in front of Bragg’s Pie Factory, 1301 Grand) as well as tours of the new artist-decorated planters, at 11am and 3pm (same start location). Visitors can also pick up planter and building maps for their own self-guided tours.

The planters were installed in 2013 as part of a streetscape re-design that included enhanced lighting, new asphalt, artist-designed crosswalks, green bike lanes, and permanent on-street parking. Artists who decorated planters include Tammi Lynch-Forrest, Bill Dambrova, Mindy Timm, Denise Yaghmourian, Dave Jarvinen, Michelle Legler, Villa Montessori School, Michele Hill, Tosca Kerr, Melinda Bergman, Lara Plecas, husband and wife team Art and Jenny Zelov, Robert Gentile and many others. Various artists and local schools have created fantastic plants and flowers that will be displayed in the planters the day of the event, using recycled materials. Two free, audience participatory mosaic projects will be taking place from Noon – 5pm at the intersection of Grand and Fillmore, led by local artists Tammi Lynch-Forrest and Kris Kollasch.

Over 50 bands, with a whole range of sounds, will be featured at various venues throughout the day (pick up a schedule at the info tables or in the Festival Guide). Other highlights of the day’s activities include the “Retro Vintage – Yesterday Today” fashion show at Gallery Marsiglia, 1022 Grand, from 4 – 5pm, featuring unique jewelry designs, a flamenco performance, and a sidewalk runway show; the Grand Avenue Craft Fair from 11am – 5:30 pm, 1301 Grand, with over 40 vendors of unique handmade arts and crafts; and the Peace Train, an artist-designed and furnished ‘train’ with interactive rooms, a colorfully lit exterior at night, and a message of peace – sponsored by Walter Studios. A live mural painting project will take place at 1015 Grand (between La Melgosa and Grand Avenue Garage). The “CHill on Grand Scavenger Hunt” will begin at 1818 Grand, where festival-goers can pick up scavenger clue cards and then have fun finding items hidden within the Festival.

Maps for the quirky Hanging Garden and Woven Fences project, a project sponsored by the Kooky Krafts Shop each year, are available at the info tables (or enclosed in the Festival Guides). Projects this year include an 8 ft. long papier mache dragon by Carolyn Watson Dubisch (this year’s poster designer); a Metallic Dream Tree by Denise Yaghmourian; a fence weaving “You Are Grand” by the Confetti Club; a mixed media fence installation by XPLFNT called “FMRL”; whimsical Wig and Petticoat Flower Gardens by Beatrice Moore, and many more.

Visitors can also take a self-guided tour of some of the unique working art studios in the neighborhood. A list of art studios is available in the Festival Guide. And several exhibits of note during the day include the ArtFarm Collective inaugural exhibit at the Oasis on Grand, 1501 Grand; “WEARizona” at Bragg’s Pie Factory (1301 Grand), a showcase of Southwest historic and contemporary fashion curated by Arizona’s favorite Hip Historian Marshall Shore; and “Disappearance”, by S. Gayle Stevens at the Tilt 2 Community Gallery (915 W. Fillmore), featuring wet-plate tintype photograms of bees depicting the bee colony collapse disorder.

For those interested in transportation issues, visitors can find out more about the proposed Grand Avenue Rail Project, by visiting their info table at Motley Design Group, 1114 Grand. Or get info on the new Grid Bike Share program, including some demo bikes, at the new racks in front of the Bragg’s Pie Factory building.

With more than 50 Hispanic artists from Arizona, New Mexico, Mexico and South America, the Spanish Market is set to feature a multitude of works for show and sale, ranging from colorful colcha embroidery to beautiful retablos painted in natural pigments. Art will be available in every price range, with artists and creators readily available to offer insights to those looking to start or grow their Spanish art collections.

The experience will be complemented with strolling mariachis and a menu of Hispanic cuisines prepared by the Courtyard Café. The menu will focus exclusively on Mexican favorites, featuring fresh-made tacos, tortas, posole and more. Visitors will have the option of sitting down to a calm meal at the Café or ordering grab-and-go items in the courtyard while they browse.

This year’s Spanish Market’s featured artist is Dr. Isabelle Collins (Hispanic) of Puebla, Mexico. Collins is a renowned artist and international lecturer on the dynamic history of Majolica and Talavera pottery from its origins in the 9th century through its introduction to Mexico in the 16th century, to the present production of handmade treasures using a 400-year-old technique. Her goal is to preserve the culture and beauty that is associated with colonial Mexican pottery.

Joining Collins this year will be several other well-known Hispanic artists, including jeweler and scrimshander Michelle Tapia; Lydia Quezada Celado de Talavera, the youngest sister of the renowned Juan Quezada of Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, Mexico (featured in the book, The Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art) and multi-talented, award-winning jewelry designer Lawrence Baca of Santa Fe, N.M. Find these latter three artists during the Market in the Heard Museum Shop.

Spanish Market: Mercado de las Artes takes place 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday & Sunday, Nov. 8 and 9. Market attendance is free with a suggested donation of $10 for admission to the museum. More information is available at heard.org/event/spanish-market.

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